S: fake liquid smoke and pencil shavings with a touch of maple. Awful. My whole house smells like a fire. Extremely overpowering.

T: Very similar to the smell. Fake liquid smoke bombards everything. A bit of maple at the finish. Small amount of hop bitterness at the back of the tounge as it warmed.

M: medium carbonation mouthfeel was a little thin.

Overall: its kinda cool that rogue tried to experiment by doing something different, but it was very poorly executed. I had to give the rest to my buddy. If you don't like smoked beers I would not advise you wasting your money on this. It's a shame, because everytjibg else I had from rogue was pretty Damn good. Was a huge disappointment. (753 characters)

I don't know what Rogue thinks pig's tails look like, but that's not it. They nailed the maple leaf though, spot on. Evenly maple and bacon notes are spread out over the body of this beer and it is smoky in an underhanded way. Sweetness from the maple that lingers like the sticky sap it was made from. Some caramel malt body behind the extra flavors but mostly a convincing pro-breakfast rally cry. And trust me, the bacon carries reallly well. More smoke as it warms up, but holy breakfast I am drinking this in the wrong meridian. 73/100 (540 characters)

Poured from 22oz. bottle. Pours a hazy amber with little light penetration. A good head stays around for a while but fades with no lacing. Smells of maple syrup at first and then a smoked malty aroma. Tastes similar, a smoky wood flavor, not toasted but earthy. I can't taste the bacon unless that's the smoke. The maple comes a bit later. I want to say outright I think people were really harsh on this brew, and while it wasn't my favorite brew of the week, I give rogue major kudos for testing the outer limits of ideas. Maybe this one didn't hit, but hey, that's how progress happens. Lord knows the last thing this world needs is one more pumpkin beer or generic IPA. (672 characters)

Appearance – The beer pours a hazy orange-reddish amber color with a big billowy orange-cream tinted head. The head has a decent level of retention, slowly fading over time to leave some nice streaky lace on the sides of the glass.

Smell – The aroma is quite robust of maple syrup smells as well as a smoky, saltwater, and toffee smell. Mixed with these are some bready aromas as well as some meaty smells with hints of hickey smoked bacon mixed within. It actually smells like a mix of very salty maple salt water taffy, doughnuts, and smoked meat. A rather interesting aroma overall.

Taste – The taste begins with a somewhat sweeter flavor of maple syrup and toffee with some bready malt. A hint of smokiness is present upfront, with this flavor growing stronger and stronger as the taste advances to the end. Notes of seawater work their way to the tongue along with some flavors of a somewhat oddly bitter bacon/meat taste. The sweeter flavors that were present upfront fade as the taste transitions on to the middle. The bacon taste with lots of flavors of smoke and salt are quite potent at the end and due to a surge of the sweeter flavors of maple syrup and toffee to the levels that were present upfront a rather off slightly bitter and sort of disgustingly sweet and smoky meat taste is left to linger on the tongue.

Mouthfeel – The body of the beer is on medium side in terms of thickness and creaminess with a carbonation level that is on the average side. I think it is appropriate for the style as it does make it somewhat drinkable, but overall I am not 100% sure.

Overall – Well… It looked and smelled rather nice, but the taste was just way too off. It was one I always wanted to try out of curiosity. Now with the curiosity satisfied I will almost assuredly never buy it again. But even with that said, I would recommend to anyone to try it, as it is quite the novelty with quite the reputation. (1,967 characters)

Received a bottle as a gag Christmas gift.Thought, oh cool, this is interesting. I love bacon, I love beer, hell maple glazed donuts are cool too.Poured it into a pint glass.Took a whiff.Smelt of maple syrup burning in a pan recently used to fry up bacon.Overwhelming taste, almost medicinal.Tried my best to drink it.A couple of pulls and I dumped it down the drain.

this is a great idea for a beer, but in my opinion all i could taste was burnt bacon, it smelled good, and sounded like it would be excellent, but after pouring into a glass and serving around 40 degrees, it was just a huge disappointment. good idea! but not good results (271 characters)

For some reason I was expecting a dark beer, instead I end up with a dark amber brew that shows a hazed, full amber hue with gold highlights when held up to the light. The head is an almost two-finger thick, pale tan color as it sits in my New Belgium Globe glass. The aroma smells of smoke up front that is quickly overcome by a sweet, sugary, maple note. Once you really start to look at the nose the smokiness never disappears and in fact has phenolic notes that suggest strongly of burnt / curing plastic; luckily this is not overwhelming, but it is definitely a problem I have noticed repeatedly from the Briess Cherrywood smoked malt. It is amazing how much this smells like a sugar laden, maple glazed doughnut; an extremely interesting aroma that definitely seems to have nailed the maple component, the bacon though just really isn’t present as the cherrywood smoked malt seems to be a consistently poor choice in the beers I have tried it in.

Despite smelling huge and sticky sweet, the beer is actually fairly dry. It has an almost tartness to it up front, but quickly picks up a smoky flavor that lingers in the palate and the finish has an ample maple like flavor lingering on along with the smokiness. The smoky flavors are quite as plastic like as it is in the nose, but there is a suggestion of plastic to the finish; otherwise it almost has an astringent woody edge to it. The maple character seems more in common with fake pancake syrup than real maple syrup, but it actually isn’t really all that bad though. There is not real bitterness to this beer, it gets its balance from the sharper smoke character. Somewhat light bodied and actually would be fairly quaffable if this was a regular beer.

Definitely an interesting beer, it wasn’t at all what I expected and did in fact nail the maple doughnut character pretty well. The bacon really doesn’t seem to be capture well though. Overall this was interesting, but not something I ever will feel the need to try again. A couple ounces is certainly enough; worth trying for the donut aspects at least. (2,078 characters)

ugh- I don't even want to write a detailed review. Let's just say that gross beer makes me sad, but getting my hopes up with the promise of delicious bacon, then turning out like this, that's a sin. I have never had such a hard time finishing a beer. I expected a lot better from Rogue. (286 characters)

Pours a nice amber with a thick white head and its all downhill from here.

Smells smoky to the point of being medicinal. There is some maple there but it is dominated by the smokiness. You can smell the maple too but it doesn't do much for it.

Tastes- The smokiness is overpowering and there is definitely some bacon but the maple was too weak to balance it out. So the two dominating flavors I got were salty bacon and medicinal smokiness which is about as pleasant as you would imagine.

Mouthfeel-Nothing special a little carbonation but it goes away quickly. The taste was kind of poor so I was more focused on that.

Overall- Not blaming Rogue because in retrospect this is a flavor that would be hard to pull off but it is a bad beer. The only reason you might want to try it would be to say you did. (870 characters)

I have had a Bacon Maple bar from the world famous Voodoo Doughnuts, and it was a glorious experience. So whence I saw the pink gleaming bottle from afar, it was calling my name and I and thought: "Voodoo doughnuts + Maple + Bacon + Beer = EPIC WIN"

A friend and I eagerly awaited a time when we could both partake of this brew. And When the time came... Lets just say we now have a new gold standard for the worst tasting beer of all time. Normally, even if a beer tastes bad, I will still finish it on principle, because it is beer. And wasting any form of beer is a sin. The exception to that rule is Voodoo Doughnut Maple Bacon Ale. Though it is a beautiful amber color, We had to pour the wretched concoction down the drain.

I am very saddened to have to write this review, as I love the other beverages Rouges Ales has to offer. But this is certainly not one of them. (876 characters)

look is a darkish brown with a small yellowish head. smell is the applewood bacon, smoked malt, and maple syrup flavoring. taste is a very vanilla ale with maple and bacon undertones. the smoked malt is very much in the background and there is no doughnut flavor to speak of.

better than its reputation, an interesting idea and well executed. worth trying without a doubt. (414 characters)

A- pours a bright copper color with a foamy cream colored head that leaves just a bit of lace.

S- sweet maple syrup, smoked and greasy bacon and campfire smoke. It smells exactly as you would expect it to, given the beers description. It's like liquid pancakes and bacon

T- the sweetness of the maple syrup dominates up front, then gives way to straight up bacon. The greasy bacon is then followed by intense campfire smokiness in the finish that lasts on the palate long after the finish. The smokiness is a bit too much as I could only drink a few ounces

M- medium body with moderate fizzy carbonation, dry and smoky finish that lingers in the palate for what seems like forever

O- although this beer was hard to drink more than a few ounces, it tasted and smelled as I would expect from a bacon maple beer, and for that I had to give it a decent score. It was worth trying, but not something that I would revisit again (925 characters)

(Served in a tulip glass)A- This beer pours a slightly hazy bright copper body with a lumpy beige yellowish head that is supported by strands of microbubbles.

S- There is a strong artificial maple flavoring aroma followed by a smoke note and some layers of smoke and bacon blend a bit with a plastic band-aid note growing as the beer opens.

T- The slightly meaty flavor of bacon note with some layers of smoke ending in more plastic band-aids. Then comes the artificial maple flavoring in full force and it lingers after the finish.

M- The medium-light mouthfeel has no alcohol heat and a gentle fizz but it can’t cut the artificial maple of the tongue.

O- The complex layer of flavor are all a bit offensive and the nice smoke notes are dominated by band-aids and artificial maple flavoring. It was a bit hard to get through this beer. I’m glad I got to try one bottle but one is enough. (901 characters)

Poured from the pink 750Ml bottle into a Pint glass, very nice cloudy copper color with a 3 finger tan head. Aroma holds smoke, maple, bacon, malt and sugar. Taste was a slightly smoke/bacon flavor with only hints of maple now and then finishing with a smokey bitter on the back of the tongue. Mouthfeel was pleasant with fair carbonation and a medium layer of flavor left on the middle of the tongue. Overall for a smoked beer it comes in at 100% of what it should be, I would like a little more maple but other than that it was worth a taste and I'm glad I found it. (568 characters)

I write this having always said "everything is better with bacon." I found out today for the first time this is not true. Bottle is clearly a sales gimmick, though regardless quite eye catching. Having been a fan of most Rogue beers, and obviously bacon, I had to try it despite the dismal reviews.

Color of the pour is a nice hazy golden brown with a 1/2 inch head or so in a snifter glass. The smell is unquestionably and overpoweringly bacon. This was the first hint I had of the beer not being up to my expectations. The taste is a bit bitter, sweet, smokey bacon flavor that lingers. The aftertaste is solely smokey bacon. I'm glad I split the bottle because I had difficulty getting one glass down, much less the whole bottle. Disappointed from Rogue.

Improvements: I think toning just about everything down would benefit the beer. The bacon needs to be subtle rather than overpowering, as does the smoke. (913 characters)

At first, this did not appear to be an awful beer, decent head, a cream colored beige.The smell was nothing too offensive, but not pleasant. The tastes is where it starts to go downhill. Have you ever eaten a Beggin' Strip. Well I have( too much backstory to tell) , and it tasted like they smashed a bunch of Beggin' Strips up in a blender, and added water. Utterly disgusting. The mouthfeel was like watery bacon, with a hint of maple. This is one of the first things that bacon has made taste worse. I wish I could rate the taste at 0 or .25Horrible beer, total drainpour (615 characters)

A: Reddish brown with a sticky head that dissipates to a film; lacing is okay

S: Wow, that smells smoky and sweet--like walking into a Denny's: so much maple syrup and bacon and bready, burnt malts and brown sugar; but overall this is just so sweet and smoky from the maple and bacon

T: Not nearly as sweet as I thought; while there is a bit of maple in the flavor, it's much more smokey bacon flavors; man, that' different and yet, unlike many, I like it

F: Pretty sticky mouth feel, which is appropriate for a maple bacon doughnut beer but a touch thin on the back end that really hinders what I want from this beer--it needs to be thicker and even stickier, especially on the finish

O: I didn't know what to expect here, but I was pleasantly surprised--so smokey in the taste and so sweet in the aroma; they were paying tribute to an iconic doughnut and though they didn't create an iconic beer, they created an interesting beer nonetheless; like I said earlier, unlike most, I really like this beer (1,006 characters)

The beer itself is nowhere as glamorous as the illustrious pink bottle it comes in. Polluted by a heavy dosage of sediment, the already unclear brownish-yellowish beer becomes entirely murky, its colour entirely ambiguous. The additional fiber is good for the colon but hard on the eyes.

The aroma smells like an incense candle. Notes of singed, slowly burning wood and sweet maple transport me to a musty backroom that sells fake IDs and heavy metal t-shirts, not the butcher shop or the bakery. I don't mind the woody-maple smell, but I wouldn't eat the doughnut...

Although I have had the actual Voodoo Bacon Maple doughnut in Portland. There may be some superficial resemblance but the real thing is much tastier than this beer (which may have something to do with the fact that 'sugar' is not seen on the ingredients list). Open a bakery with this as your flagship product and you'd be out of business within a month.

The "doughnut" gimmick aside, however, this makes a more than respectable smoked beer. Indeed it should - cherrywood, beechwood and hickory smoked malts are all used. No wonder the flavour of wood is so strong. This tastes just like singed, smoking splints which, for my tastes, is lovely. The maple flavouring is a complimentary accenting.

It's hard to know whether Rogue intended to make a beer or a mokumentary. There's enough redeeming cherrywood, hickory and maple flavour to make finishing the bottle agreeable, but as far as any resemblance to the strangely, unexpectedly, somewhat grossly delicious Bacon Maple Doughnut, well, I'm not feeling it. I like this, but I'm not going to rate it highly... (1,636 characters)

(spoiler alert) - I did not read ANY reviews before buying this beer...

So... I bought this novelty beer after hearing that a Bacon/Doughnut beer existed... wow... was I ever surprised! Picked up the last bottle in the district... stuck it in the fridge for 2 days and got all the boys together to try it out. I’m not familiar with Rogue as a doughnut brand, but what I've read from other reviewers is that they are pretty special. So we cracked this beer yesterday (25’ weather) - the head looked gross, a bubbly vomit yellow bubbling from the bottle.. it smelled like maple.. and... the artificial bacon smell.. I poured a few glasses for all my friends, we raised our glasses for a cheers and each of us gulped it down. YUCK! We all had the same reaction right away. My final review of this beer is this: It tastes like if you licked a dirty greasy grill from your BBQ, took a swig of the cheapest beer... ate a piece of burned bacon, added a shot of fake maple flavoring while inhaling campfire smoke... pretty much sums up this beer. I would NOT recommend this to ANYONE! Keep beer, bacon and doughnuts separate. THE END! (1,165 characters)

Definitely a different beer - I struggled through the first glass, but am now starting to enjoy it at the end of the bottle... ?! Heavily smoke-forward, there are definite maple and bacon notes - but overall a bit of a mess.

Pours a hazy light brown with yellowish tinges. Minimal head that disappears quickly. Aroma of smoked meat, with an industrially sweet maple backbone. The flavour starts sweet with a malt basis, albeit no "donut" that I can discern. This transitions rapidly into a smoky, smoky finish – almost overpowering.

A very different beer and glad to have tried it, although buying one bottle would have been enough! (637 characters)

A pretty rough beer. I, for the record, have had the bacon maple bar from Voodoo, and it is delicious. When you try to put it in beer form, it is terrible. The smell is off putting right from the start: a heavy smokiness with a hint of sweet. I read a review on here that says it tastes like dirty grill water, and that's about right. The overwhelming smoke flavor sticks, in a bad way. It stays in your mouth too. Thank god I had other beer in the fridge. I poured out a twelve dollar bottle of this stuff. The only decent thing is the appearance, with a nice thick head and good lacing. After that abandon ship. (613 characters)

I poured this strange beer into my tumbler at 45 degrees. The thought of a greasy beer really worrying me. The beer was a light amber color with tan head that was thick and showing great lacing. Apple wood smoke and maple flavors oozing out of the glass really smelled good. I smoke with apple wood weekly so I know what I'm talking about. The taste was really quite startling. Smokey maplealy taste for sure. I got no bacon taste at all, yet my wife said she did. I liked the beer for a crazy taste experience. I would buy it again to change things up. (553 characters)